December 28, 2011

Hi folks, I hope you had a very good Christmas. We certainly did!
I am now dreaming of eating healthy whole foods, but before that, I wanted to share a recipe I had promise would feature on my blog.

While travelling through New-Zealand a few months ago, our lovely tour guide Sue was cooking for us most nights. One evening she served her chocolate mousse cheesecake that all of us loved. I asked her if she would mind giving me the recipe and she said she would on the condition that I cook for the group on our last evening together. The deal was agreed, and I cooked tartiflette, a typical dish from Savoy. Sue gave me the recipe, and as our fellow travellers begged me to give them the recipe too, I had promised that I would put it on my blog.

However, weeks and months went along, and I still hadn’t made the cheesecake. You see, when I saw the list of ingredients, I wasn’t sure I wanted to make it or eat it again. Yes, it tasted good, but it is incredibly rich (and unhealthy), a heart attack in a plate type dish. Luke kept reminding me about it and I finally gave up. We cooked it for Boxing Day and everybody loved it. So here it is, as promised. Feel free to divide the proportions by 2 if you would like a smaller cake.

Sue’s Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake – serves 20

• 2 packs (250g each) mascarpone cheese

• 500g Toblerone

• 2 packs Oreo biscuits

• 40g butter, melted

• 300ml whipping cream

1. Crush the biscuits with a rolling pin or pestle and mortar until you obtain fairly fine crumbs. Mix with the melted butter and press at the bottom of a rectangular cake dish.

2. In a bowl placed over a pan of simmering water, melt the Toblerone along with the mascarpone. Mix well. Pour over the biscuit base and leave to cool down. Once cold, place in the fridge to set for a minimum of 3 hours.

3. Just before serving, whip the cream until it forms soft peaks and pour over the cake. Enjoy reasonably.

December 22, 2011

The winter solstice was yesterday and I am loving the idea that from now on the days are going to start getting longer!

I hope you are having good times getting ready for Christmas. We are staying with Luke’s family this year. We’ve already been busy in the kitchen, cooking treats and preparing for the weekend. Food always seems to be at the centre of celebrations and important events. I find it is one of the most beautifully ways to create memories and share with the ones you love. Receiving and giving, around the table :)

‘Fruits déguisés’ are a treat we usually have in France around Christmas time, using dates or prunes and stuffing them traditionally with Marzipan. Even if we like to enjoy good food around Christmas time, this year I have tried to think about somewhat healthier things to cook. I have therefore replaced the Marzipan with a mix of nut butter and tahini – delicious.

Stuffed Dates – makes 15

• 15 Medjool dates, pitted

• 2tbsp nut butter

• 1tsp tahini

• 1tsp rose or orange water

• 1tsp set honey

1. In a bowl, mix together the nut butter, tahini, rose or orange water and honey until it comes together. Make a ball with the mixture and roll it into a long sausage about 2cm in diameter. Cut it every 3cm to have about 15 bits of dough.

December 09, 2011

After a very mild autumn, temperatures have finally dropped and it is starting to feel Christmassy. Time to put the tree up, decorate the house and wrap presents -with no stress and no ridiculous amounts of money spent in shops. I like very much offering home-made presents, especially food gifts, prepared with love and patience.

These days, our kitchen smells of orange, vanilla and cinnamon as I prepare all sorts of treats and delicious dishes while listening to Christmas songs.

Mince pies are probably foreign to most French people. The first time I had some in the UK, I was worried somebody was trying to make me eat meat in a pudding! Ahah, I quickly realised what they were and became very fond of them. I made a big batch of mince meat last week, and although I will probably make pies at some point, I started with these tasty apple tarts. Happy Friday everyone!

Mince Meat Apple Tarts (gluten-free) – makes 6

• Mince Meat (recipe from Good Housekeeping Christmas Cookbook 2010):

o 150g sultanas

o 25g dried prunes, chopped

o 50g dried cranberries

o 1 small apple, grated

o Zest & juice of 1 orange

o 25g walnuts, chopped

o 25g unrefined golden caster sugar

o 50ml Calvados

o 1/2tsp all spice

• Pastry:

o 80g wholemeal rice flour

o 80g millet flour

o 80g quinoa flour

o 1tbsp xantham gum

o 1tsp all spice

o 100g cold butter, diced

o 1 large egg, beaten

o 4-5tbsp cold water

• 5 small apples, peeled and finely sliced

• 1tsp cinnamon

1. Start by preparing the mince meat a few days ahead. Put all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well, cover and leave in the fridge for at least 24h.

2. Make the pastry by mixing the flours, xantham gum and all spice in a large bowl. Add the diced butter and make rough crumbs using your fingertips. Add the egg and start bringing the dough together. Add water 1 tbsp at a time until the dough has all come together and you can form a ball. Wrap it in cling film and leave in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

3. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

4. Divide the dough in 7 small balls and flatten them in circles with a rolling pin. Place 6 of them in 6 individual tart dishes. Prick the bottom with a fork. Cut Christmassy shapes with a cookie cutter in the leftover dough circle.

5. Add 1 or 2 tbsp of mince meat on the pastry and arrange the apple slices on top. Sprinkle with the cinnamon and top them up with a dough shape.

6. Cook in the oven for about 25min until the dough is cooked through.

December 02, 2011

I am glad November is out of the way. To me, it has always been probably the dullest month of the year. I don’t know if it’s related to the fact that nothing very exciting is happening or the hours of daylight being incredibly shorter – this left me with low energy levels and a gloomy mood.

In the kitchen however, I have carried on experimenting (my latest experimentation was sprouting seeds and it worked wonderfully well) and this at least has kept me going. Before I share with you some ideas for the festive season, I wanted to give you a crackers recipe which we REALLY liked. I came up with the recipe last weekend, did it, and in no time they were gone – they were that good. We had them with nut pulp hummus (made with leftover pulp from nut milk) and some of my pretty alfalfa sprouts which were finally ready to eat. I wanted to call the recipe ‘green crackers’, because they looked green before I cooked them, but once cooked they had lost their green colour so I decided to leave the green crackers idea behind.
Have a lovely weekend!